OLLY Morgan will aim to coach Gloucester to JP Morgan Premiership Sevens glory next week.
The former England full-back will take over the short-format coaching reins from club analyst Rob Thirlby, who headed out to France to join Gloucester's pre-season training camp yesterday.
Ex-Millfield School pupil Morgan helped Gloucester to the Middlesex Sevens title in his younger Kingsholm days.
And former England Sevens star and Gloucester's regular sevens coach Thirlby has backed him to lead the Cherry and Whites to success in Bath on Friday (kick-off 7pm).
Gloucester edged into the JP Morgan Premiership Sevens finals night on Thursday, by finishing second in qualifying Group A.
The Cherry and Whites saw off the old enemy Bath 29-19 in their opening match, only to slip up 31-19 in their second clash against Worcester Warriors.
But then Thirlby's men hit back against Exeter Chiefs, easing home 28-19 despite several scares – to secure that finals night berth.
Now 27-year-old Morgan will take the coaching reins, bidding to take Gloucester one step further than their loss to London Irish in the showpiece final.
Backing Morgan to guide Gloucester with smart sevens insight, Thirlby explained: "I've had to head out and handle my other job, which is as the club analyst.
"So Olly will come in and take control of the sevens coaching, and he will do a great job.
"He has a lot of sevens experience, he helped Gloucester win the Middlesex Sevens, and I'm sure he will push the boys to produce a competitive display in Bath."
Some 12,952 fans flocked to Kingsholm on Thursday, to watch the South West region's premier sides do battle in sevens action.
Impressed Gloucester coach Thirlby hailed the Cherry and Whites faithful for turning out in their droves as always.
He added: "The support from the Gloucester fans was fantastic once again on Thursday. This competition has really taken off.
"So to play in a packed Kingsholm like that is always an honour."
Gloucester academy speedster Steph Reynolds provided the majority of the night's vital try-scoring turns, snaffling two scores against both Bath and Exeter.
The Newport-born flyer admitted it was a great feeling touching down under the Kingsholm lights.
He enthused: "It was a great night to be out there with that support, and in the end we did enough to get through.
"We paid the price for not controlling the restarts against Worcester, but were able to find form again for the Exeter game."
Backing Gloucester to shine again in the finals night at Bath on Friday, Reynolds advised dominating possession will be the Cherry and Whites' best route to overall competition victory.
He added: "Sevens is far harder when you don't have the ball, and much more fun when you do.
"When we kept possession we thrived, and it will be the same again in Bath.
"So we've got to control the game that little bit more, and if we do that we'll have a good chance."
Welsh sevens specialist Rhodri McAtee impressed for Gloucester, along with first-team regulars Matt Cox, Akapusi Qera, fast-developing fly-half Billy Burns and number eight Gareth Evans.
The Gloucester faithful ground into full voice as the Cherry and Whites came under pressure in their vital final game against Exeter.
Only a try-saving tackle from McAtee kept Gloucester in the hunt early on as both sides fought for the ascendancy.
But after leading 21-0, Gloucester let the Chiefs back into the contest at 21-19.
It fell to the impressive Evans then, to pluck a restart from the skies and race home from halfway, courtesy of two fluid sidesteps.
Breathless, breakneck and at times slipshod – but Gloucester were through nonetheless, joining group-winners Worcester in the finals.
And the cake's icing for the die-hard Shedheads: Bath failed to make the cut for their own showpiece evening.
